The Final Step
by Falneou17
Summary: It is not easy living far away from those you care about, and Shino is facing those struggles after having recently moved. She therefore savors every moment that they can meet together, whether online or in real life, but things don't always turn out to go the way you want them to.


**The ninth oneshot of the Saten Ruiko Day Countdown/ LightZephyr Appreciation Week! Today's chapter will focus on Asada "Sinon" Shino!**

 **Special thanks to Namitaa776 for helping out!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, nor do I, in any way, shape or form intend to pretend that I do**

* * *

It was a day like any other, yet was still able to be everything at the same time. With the sun shining brightly on top of their heads, a pair of girls exited the building and immediately covered their eyes to protect them.

One of the two, the significantly taller one with a bow fastened on her back, had her arms crossed and was impatiently tapping her foot.

"He's late…"

"Papa should have been here by now," the black-haired navigation pixie agreed as she landed on the cait sith's shoulder, deciding that her time was better spent there than a meter above the ground, "Why do you think he could be late?"

The blue-haired girl shrugged, careful to not make any sudden movements so as to not shock the passenger, and leaned on the wall behind her. She was about to drift off into silence when something hit her.

"Sorry about that!" Yui quickly apologized as she landed on the shoulder again, looking slightly embarrassed at her actions.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Sinon waved it off as she looked off into the distance, understandably miffed at being forced to wait so long. To try and kill some time, she voiced the question that had been bothering her for a while, "Say, Yui, how are you able to stay here without Kirito or Asuna around?"

"I honestly don't know," Yui admitted after a few seconds of pondering over the answer. She was about to open her mouth to say something else when a familiar voice broke the silence.

"Sinonon!"

Turning to the direction of the voice, Sinon saw the approaching figures of her friends with Asuna in front leading the group. She tried to remain frowning but somehow was unable to keep her image up when the first signs of a smile decided to appear.

No matter how much she would deny it, Sinon had missed them.

Everybody's schedules had been clashing a lot lately, preventing them from playing together. The fact that Sinon had to move to another city only made things words.

It had been several months since the group had managed to come together, so this one chance was something that they had all been looking forward to.

As luck may have it, a certain event was about to start on this fated day as well, but with the pace that her friends were moving Sinon doubted that they could even participate.

"Sorry we took so long," Asuna panted as she finally reached the former sniper, the others also looking worn out but less so, "There was a power outage and we only just got power."

"That's alright," Sinon replied before opening up her menu to check her inventory. Content at what she was already bringing with her, she turned back to her friends, "We're already late. Let's go."

Sinon was met with a chorus of enthusiastic cheers of agreement, and the group of eight plus navigation pixie and pet dragon set out for the event quest.

* * *

Later that night, Asada Shino found herself sitting on her bed in her new room, the moon's light shining through the gaps in the window blinds and slightly illuminating the room. The nineteen-year-old had her AmuSphere in her lap and was now staring at it with near-empty eyes.

After a long and grueling fight, they had all managed to kill the boss and clear the event quest, much to everybody's relief. Sinon was, just like her friends, ecstatic about the rewards that she had just earned and was looking forward to the celebration that typically followed successful battles like these.

And that is when it happened.

Sinon was forcefully disconnected from the game and was only given one notification as she regained her consciousness as to the reason why.

Server maintenance.

Now, with nothing left to do and not knowing how to kill time, Shino decided that she might as well be making some progress on her studies when something caught her eye.

It was a framed picture on her desk. She didn't have a lot of decorations in her room, or many pictures of her taken to begin with, but Shino always managed to find a place for this particular picture in her room no matter what.

Depicted on it was one of the few times where all of them managed to play together, and Shino smiled as she saw Sinon in between Klein and Leafa. Slowly, her eyes scanned the rest of the picture to allow her to see everybody there.

Feeling the slightest hints of longing, the black haired girl finally succeeded in putting the picture away so that she could start on her notes when something else caught her attention.

It was the soft buzzing of her phone, indicating an incoming message.

Curious, Shino left her chair to walk over to her bed and see the mail that she had received. Slightly frowning in confusion after reading over it three times, she sends a quick reply and sighed.

It was cold.

Shrugging, the black haired girl walked over to her wardrobe and looked around, seeing what she should pick. As her gaze landed on a familiar set of clothes, only one thought crossed her mind.

* * *

"You better not make me regret doing this," Shino warned as she crossed her arms, her gaze following the male in front of her as he approached her.

"I'll try not to," Kazuto chuckled uneasily as he scratched his head, remembering the last time when he had made the girl across from him annoyed. With a deep breath, he added, "Do you mind if we go somewhere else for this?"

Shaking her head in confirmation, Shino followed Kazuto as the two of them made their way to a familiar café nearby. Albeit slightly hesitant and wondering what he had in mind, the black haired girl silently followed inside.

Once there, she saw yet another familiar face.

"Okay, Kazuto, what is going on?" Shino asked as she eyed him before turning her gaze to Asuna, "First you were late to our online meet-up and now the two of you come all the way here just to see me—"

"We're not here 'just to see you'," Asuna corrected in a gentle but firm tone as she motioned for Shino to sit down in the seat across from her. After slight deliberation on Shino's part, she finally sat down, much to Asuna's delight, "We're here to see a friend and see how she is doing over here. I hope that that is not against the rules."

Shino bit her inner cheek to prevent a retort from escaping her mouth. Instead, she tried to motion with her eyes for the two visitors to continue. Since that didn't work, she tried a different approach, "Not to sound rude here but you make it sound like that is not the only reason why you are here."

"We actually came to ask you a favor," Kazuto blurted out, likely before he even knew what he was doing if his face was anything to go by. Clearing his throat and trying to avoid the glare that Asuna was giving him, he quickly added, "Since it's been a while, Asuna and I are trying to set up a real life meeting with the group. Of course, we want you to be there as well if it works out for you."

"When?" Shino asked almost directly, her voice picking up an entirely different tone than before as she eyed the two old friends in front of her. In both meanings of the word.

"Next week Saturday," Asuna answered before remembering something and hopefully adding, "Do you think you can make it?"

"I can try…" Shino trailed off as she frowned slightly in thought. After a few seconds, she nodded in determination, causing a smile to form on her friends' faces. Feeling as if her job there was done, she stood up, "Well, I think I—"

"Where are you going?" Kazuto asked seriously as he eyed the black haired girl get ready to leave.

"I—" Shino tried, but was interrupted when the male beat her once again.

"I dragged you out here, the least I can do is get you something," Kazuto insisted as he slid the menu to Shino's side of the table.

Shino was torn. She _wanted_ to spend more time with her friends but she also remembered the upcoming exam that she still had to prepare for.

She was about to say that she had to leave, but then her gaze landed on the first image on the menu.

And her decision was made for her.

* * *

Ten days went by faster than she thought was possible, but it was finally the fated weekend that Shino had been waiting for for the past week.

Sitting comfortably in the chair of the bus, the black haired girl silently watched the scenery pass by, reminiscing about times long past as she tried to imagine what was going to happen. While Asuna and Kazuto had told her what the general plan for the day was, a simple get-together among friends, she still didn't really know what to expect.

So it was with slight hesitation that Shino stepped off the bus and made the trek to the Dicey Café.

The weather had made a turn for the better in the past two days, and Shino was grateful that it had stayed that way today. The gray clouds that had dominated the skies for the past month had made way for white fluffiness instead.

It wasn't long until Shino had reached her destination, and while she had visited this place so many times in the past she couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous deep down.

Shaking her worries out of her head, the black haired girl took the handle and opened the door.

While a part of her was expecting it, she couldn't say that she wasn't slightly shocked to see what was behind it.

* * *

Gently, the woman who appeared to be in her thirties pulled up the blanket slightly, making sure to securely cover the sleeping child. Satisfied and sure that she did a good job, she was about to leave when she felt the light tug on her shirt.

Looking down, she had her suspicions confirmed when she saw the small hand holding her back.

"Mama… what happened next?"

Shino couldn't help but smile, not knowing whether that was partly because of how adorable her daughter's voice was when she was half asleep or because of how happy she was that she was so blessed.

Whichever it may have been, Shino still found herself kneeling down so that she could be on eye-level with her daughter.

"That is for another day," Shino said softly as she stroked the unruly hair of the lying child, "Mama already told you nine stories today and it is time for you to sleep."

"Fi-i-i-iiiiine…" the little one yawned, and Shino knew how tired she must have been if she wasn't even trying to fight back, "Good night, Mama. Love you."

"Love you, too," Shino whispered as she gave a feathery light kiss on the exposed forehead.

As Shino was about to leave the room, she couldn't help but notice the framed picture on the nightstand.

It was taken on the day that they had all met in real life again after Shino had moved. The black haired woman had suspected something was off from the start at how Kazuto and Asuna had been avoiding the topic regarding why they met up, but was still surprised to find out why they were _really_ meeting up.

Shino chuckled at the memory of seeing all of her friends jump at her the moment she entered, congratulating her for being accepted to her university of choice with cheerful grins. She honestly believed that the picture truly showcased how she was feeling that day.

And she couldn't have been more grateful for her group of friends than she was when seeing that picture.

* * *

 **And that wraps up this oneshot! I hope you enjoyed it!**


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